Cars with errors: the number of recalled cars has risen sharply

Created: 06/03/2022, 14:04

By: Marcus Efler

Risk of fire, defective doors and non-functioning assistance systems: Never before have so many cars had to be called to workshops as in the past year.

Flensburg – You know that from computers and entertainment electronics: actually you want to stream a film in peace, but what does the television do?

First he updates.

The smartphone reveals a security hole, but the next update will close it.

In short: the product matures with the customer.

This trend towards improvements or repairs has long since spread to cars.

Optimization does not always take place OTA, i.e. "Over The Air" and is therefore unobtrusive and effortless for the driver, as Tesla has perfected (in contrast to Porsche, for example, which then leads to some ridicule).

Annoying: more and more cars have to go to the workshop for recalls.

(Iconic image) © Ezequiel Gimenez/Imago

Cars with errors: the number of recalled cars has risen sharply

Often enough, however, a software update is not enough, and a workshop has to do it.

The unfortunate result: the number of recalled vehicles increased significantly in 2021.

As reported by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), around 3.4 million cars and two-wheelers had to go to the workshop for repairs for safety reasons.

That was twelve percent more than in the previous year and a new record.

At 575, the number of product recalls was still within the long-term average. 

The most common reasons for a recall were problems with the occupant protection devices, such as the seat belt: around 110 campaigns fell into this area in 2021.

Most of the affected vehicles, around 750,000, were due to recalls due to errors in the assistance systems, i.e. defects in the software.

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Cars with errors: 2022 will probably not be much better either

There were major recalls last year, including on the BMW 3 Series with around 430,000 cars across Germany, which had to be repaired due to the risk of fire (and there was a comparable campaign again this year in the USA).

Around 67,000 models of the VW T6 bus had to go to the workshop because of problems with the door lock.

In addition to the mandatory recalls initiated by the KBA, there are other improvements that the manufacturers call service campaigns or simply take care of during the regular inspection - without the customers really noticing.

Just as if it were an OTA update.